Through 47 years, 23 theatrically released motion pictures and 6 charismatic actors, audiences around the globe have thrilled to the adventures of the world’s most famous Gentlemen Spy…Lead character in the longest running and most financially successful English-language film franchise to date.

His missions are dynamic…his romances are blazing…his skill is unmatched and his charm is unmistakable. He has a license to kill and takes his drink shaken, not stirred.

James Bond is sent to investigate the connection between a North Korean terrorist and a diamond mogul who is funding the development of an international space weapon.

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Since 2002 marked the 40th anniversary of Ian Fleming’s famous Gentlemen Spy, you’d think (and I hoped) “Die Another Day” would be cause for celebration…but going in with expectation of that sort was probably not the best decision on my part.

Now the film isn’t THAT atrocious; I’ve been told that those TV films from 1954 and 1959 are more deserving of that title (I haven’t seen them yet). But when it comes to the theatrically released Bond films, this is (for me) just the least ‘Bond’ of them. You can feel the pressure that the film is going through in trying to out-do the ‘Matrix’ (needless to say that film has had that effect on action pictures for the past 10 years, nonstop really…) with big flashy visual effects and over the top action...but it ultimately falls a bit flat, both on that ‘out-doing’ “Matrix” thing and on being a genuine James Bond movie…But I digress…

This time around, things get going with Bond (Pierce Brosnan) infiltrating a North Korean military base belonging to Colonel Tan-Sun Moon (Will Yun Lee), an army officer who is illegally selling weaponry in exchange for African conflict diamonds. Eventually Bond is betrayed and held captive in Korea for 14 months (interestingly, the famous pre-title sequence that’s used in every Bond film FINALLY concerns a plot point for the film at large here). Having Bond be caught was an interesting change of pace, if nothing else.

Eventually, MI6 becomes worried that Bond is talking, so they make an exchange - they give Zao (played terrifically by Rick Yune, who looks like he was running down a mountain and fell face-first) to the Koreans, the Koreans give them Bond. But now Bond has a personal vendetta to figure out who blew his cover back 14 months ago, so he tracks Zao to a gene-manipulation facility in Cuba.

Here, James meets up with American Agent Giacinta 'Jinx' Johnson (Halle Berry), who’s also on Zao’s trail. Zao escapes, things blow up…but Bond also finds diamonds with the name of British billionaire Gustav Graves (Toby Stevens) written on them, and tracks down Graves…eventually through circumstance being led to Graves’ stronghold in Iceland where Bond discovers the mogul’s plan to create a doomsday laser satellite dubbed ‘Icarus.’ In short, Graves plans to reunite North and South Korea through militaristic circumstances.

The cast is…I guess tolerable would be a good way to go.

Brosnan still pulls off a passable performance as 007, but he’s feeling a bit old here (which wasn’t a problem for Sean Connery in “Never Say Never Again” but suffice it to say, Pierce is no Connery). He’s got all the right moves, the right accent. But I don’t know…for me, his heart didn’t feel like it was in it.

Having just come off of winning the Best Actress Academy Award, Haley Berry’s involvement as the new Bond girl was publicized extensively (something I do remember during the time leading up to the release). She looks great, which isn’t too hard to do considering its Halle Berry, but her Jinx doesn’t register with me a whole lot.

We do, however, get a delightful turn in from Dame Judi Dench as M (although the sub-plot of her thinking Bond to be a traitor was a tad confusing…or did she just forget that he saved her life in “The World is Not Enough?” Not saying that the concept of Bond being accused of subterfuge isn’t an interesting angle…that’s really just a small jab at the ‘M’ character, really).

And while he’s certainly no Desmond Llewelyn, you can tell John Cleese is having some devilish fun in the role of tech-guru ‘Q.’

Gustav Graves feels a tad recycled in the main villain department, combining elements of Auric Goldfinger with a little bit of 006 (showing hardcore fighting prowess), a little bit of Blofeld (the identity change). The character feels like a mish mash and maybe that was on purpose given it being the 40th anniversary film (references to all 19 proceeding official films are made in the picture). Still an original and refreshing foe would’ve been better.

But thankfully we get a taste of that in the form of Graves’ right hand. It’s also a bit unfortunate on Toby Stevens’ part that he’s completely upstaged by Rick Yune as Zao, who’s easily the more interesting villain of the two…he’s ruthless, charming and nearly unstoppable; Perhaps one of Bond’s greatest second-tier adversaries.

Ultimately it’s an overheated and underdeveloped entry in the series and a far cry from Brosnan’s other three films (although “Tomorrow Never Dies” isn’t that much better…arguably it’s just as bad). Still it has its moments.

Bond and Graves’ fencing match at the ‘Blades’ club is one of the highlights of the picture and I did like the snowy Iceland locale. I was also fond, to a lesser extent, of the sled chase sequence.

But in truth, the remainder of the film’s production tends to get overtly goofy. True, Bond has always had that comic-booky touch of ridiculous but I do believe there can be instances where it’s taken too far. The film puts a ham-fisted foot forward trying to be scientific and ends up being too pretentious and whimsical for its own good (the invisible Aston Martin, while extremely cool, doesn’t help on this front). And what’s worse in the case of “Die Another Day” is that rather then just role with its own absurdity, it instead decides to move at a breakneck pace in an attempt to play cover-up. But that does nothing more than attempt to make the picture feel like a rushed mess and place emphasis on the absurdities anyway…so why bother?

The climax, as a solar 'ray' destroyed the minefield between North and South Korea, allowing an 'invasion' to occur, and 007 and Jinx attempted to commandeer the aircraft controlling the 'ray', stands as one of the most ludicrous finales to a Bond film since “Moonraker.”

One of the other notorious elements of “Die Another Day” is in the amount of product placement, which I found to be awfully high. From what I’ve read, a whopping 20 companies paid the hefty sum of $70 million collectively to have their products featured in the picture, which is just staggering to me.

Oh and Madonna’s title song, while catchy, is probably the least aesthetically favorable of all the Bond songs. She even got a cameo in the film as fencing coach Verity, which I rolled my eyes at.

On the whole, “Die Another Day” is a decent but goofy slam bang actioner…but it just doesn’t have that Bond edge that the better films of the series have.

Nice review. I agree this was pretty damn weak. Not sure I'd rate it last but it's definitely towards the bottom of the barrel for Bond films. Brosnan does tie with Daniel Craig IMO as the 2nd best Bond actor after Connery. I never cared much for the other 3 Bond's.

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Quote:

'If there are more years after 2019, there are more[MCU] movies after 2019' - Kevin Feige

I'm kind of surprised Die Another Day is all the way at the bottom here. It's not exactly superior Bond, but I would say The Man with the Golden Gun and Never Say Never Again are the least 'Bond' of the Bonds.

Anyway, I really dug this movie when I was 13, but talk about not standing the test of time! The film starts off to a really dynamic, unexpected note: Bond being hauled off before the credits and held and tortured in a North Korean prison for 14 months. But after he strolls into the posh London hotel wet, bearded, and disheveled (funny moment), it's all downhill from there.

Now, I like Brosnan a lot, in general and here, I think he managed to walk out of a real mess of a movie unscathed and give an actual performance. Halle Berry, on the other hand...Well, she's sexy alright, but she seems to be so desperate to play the tough, hot, independent Bond girl who gives as good as she gets that it's over the top. Toby Stephens as Gustav Graves - formerly Will Yun Lee's Col. Moon - isn't bad, but it's such a blandly written role, even beyond the cliches CFE mentioned. I would've preferrred to just keep Yun Lee's Moon and ditch the gene therapy gimmick. (However, Bond and Graves' swordfight is my favorite sequence in the movie.) I have to disagree about Zao, I don't think Rick Yune has any presence at all. The same goes for Rosamund Pike's Miranda Frost. Thankfully, there are Dame Judi Dench and how-is-he-not-a-Sir John Cleese, both turning in their usual excellent supporting work. The only thing I maybe regret about the choice to reboot with Casino Royale is that it means we can't see any more of Cleese's Q.

I said Berry was so desperate to be a certain kind of Bond girl that it's over the top, and that's my big problem with the whole movie. It's the 20th (official) film, the 40th anniversary, the 50th anniversary of the character's creation, and there's such a visible need for this to be the ultimate Bond movie. So we cram in a reference - or ripoff we can claim is a reference - anywhere we can, and amp up the in-jokes and double entendres and gadgets to such a degree that the audience doesn't smile in appreciation, but grumble (or post on a message board) in irritation. Well, four years later, Casino Royale would demonstrate that what makes a Bond Movie a Bond Movie is not diamond-powered space rays or character names like Mr. Kil, but an elegance and wit that doesn't come with your average action movie.

Die another Day was the only James Bond film I walked out of. Halle Berry was the worst Bond girl, and it was shame that this one was Pierce Brosman's last Bond film after such an amazing start (Goldeneye).

BTW, I never walked out of Quatum of Solace though I thought that was average.